Open Education 2017

When it comes to the variety of issues our higher education system is facing today, course materials don't typically hit the top of the list. Most of the decision-makers at universities, foundations, organizations, and in the government are focused on boosting completion rates, managing growing student debt burdens, preparing for changing workforce needs, and addressing equity issues – if they have time to step away from broader fights around immigration, sexual assault, guns on campus, and free speech.

As OER advocates, we're often pushing up against those issues as we battle for airtime or funding for OER projects – and we shouldn't be.

We will be far more effective if we look for opportunities to meet the broader higher education community where they're at: in terms of our strategy and messaging, and in terms of our outreach and targeting.

This workshop will discuss four major topics faced by the higher education community: completion rates, student debt, changing workforce needs, and equity; how our community can better message OER as a solution to those problems, and how we can more effectively organize those outside our echo chamber to champion OER.